A new skin cancer therapy found by Chinese scientists

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the most prevalent kind of skin cancer and the second most common tumor of the cells at the base of the outer layer of the skin. By studying the development of cSCC, new therapeutic targets might be uncovered. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) are two major groups of ribonucleic acids, and study by researchers from the Weifang Medical University and Weifang People’s Hospital aims to investigate the biological roles of two special kinds: lncRNA PICSAR and miR-573 in this particular cancer.

The analysis results showed that PICSAR was increased, whereas miR-573 was decreased in both cSCC tissues and cell lines. miR-573 expression was directly inhibited by PICSAR in cSCC cells. Therefore, miR-573 was discovered to be a tumor suppressor by decreasing the number of cSCC cells, migration of cells, and their ability to infiltrate neighboring tissues. Additionally, the promoting effects of PICSAR on cSCC progression were significantly reversed by the overexpression of miR-573.

These findings suggest that PICSAR binds directly to miR-573, inhibiting its expression in cSCC, and that PICSAR’s oncogenic effect, or potential to cause cancer, is mediated through miR-573. All the results point to the PICSAR/miR-573 axis as a potential new mechanism in the development of cSCC. Methods to reduce PICSAR or increase miR-573 might be novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of cSCC in the future.

皮膚鱗狀細胞癌 (cSCC) 是最常見的皮膚癌類型，也是皮膚外層基部細胞中第二常見的腫瘤。通過研究 cSCC 的發展，可能會發現新的治療靶點。長鏈非編碼 RNA (lncRNA) 和 microRNA (miRNA) 是核糖核酸的兩大類，濰坊醫科大學和濰坊市人民醫院的研究人員的研究旨在研究兩種特殊類型的生物學作用：lncRNA PICSAR 和 miR- 573 在這種特殊的癌症中。

分析結果表明，在 cSCC 組織和細胞系中，PICSAR 增加，而 miR-573 減少。 PICSAR 在 cSCC 細胞中直接抑制 miR-573 的表達。因此，通過減少 cSCC 細胞的數量、細胞的遷移及其浸潤鄰近組織的能力，發現 miR-573 是一種腫瘤抑制因子。此外，PICSAR 對 cSCC 進展的促進作用被 miR-573 的過表達顯著逆轉。

這些發現表明 PICSAR 直接與 miR-573 結合，抑制其在 cSCC 中的表達，並且 PICSAR 的致癌作用或致癌的可能性是通過 miR-573 介導的。所有結果都表明 PICSAR/miR-573 軸是 cSCC 發展中潛在的新機制。減少 PICSAR 或增加 miR-573 的方法可能是未來治療 cSCC 的新治療策略。

Reference: Wang Y, Tang S, Lv J. MicroRNA-573 inhibits cell proliferation, migration and invasion and is downregulated by PICSAR in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Bosn J of Basic Med Sci [Internet]. 2022Apr.1 [cited 2022Mar.27];22(2):229-37. Available from: https://www.bjbms.org/ojs/index.php/bjbms/article/view/6301.

Editor: Merima Bukva, MPharm